LSCC Caribbean tour: Day 14 – over. And out

The final full day of touring rather than travelling saw the last official duty as well – the pleasant task of delivering our cheque to the School for Blind Children in Santa Cruz (Brian Lara’s home town) and another to the T&T Blind and Visually Impaired Cricketers Association. Proceedings began with one of the students playing the national anthem on a steel pan, vocal accompaniment by the T&T nationals led most enthusiastically by one of the youngest children.

The money was handed over with speeches from DT (not quite a first), then around 15 of the kids gave us a concert of a couple of songs and some fine drumming. To conclude affairs, school Principal Mundy, himself blind, gave us a tour of the premises. Funds are needed to upgrade classrooms (those that have already been improved were vastly superior) and for additional computer equipment that is so important these days.

Mr. Nanton’s ceaseless and shameless promotion of the tour isn’t the only news on the island. Most of the rest of it seems to involve sports minister Anil Roberts who has got himself involved in two simultaneous scandal: sex & drugs and where’s the money gone questions about a youth development programme. The former involves a clear video, but he says it wasn’t him. That hasn’t impressed Trini TV’s satirical sports show: “That like bustin’ a fart then pointing the finger at the baby.” They think that if Roberts loses the sport portfolio, he should be made Minister for Agriculture, being ‘good with weed and hoes.’

An afternoon on the golf course turned into a prolonged evening’s drive home for some of the party after a major arterial road was closed. It meant a late arrival for all at the oddly-named Trotters restaurant – not a Del Boy theme but an American style sports bar featuring framed shirts of T&T non-cricket legends, including Stern John. This was for the final night dinner, and of course speeches: Joe for the Trini folk, Neil for the rest of the party, and, just maybe for the last time, DT. We are getting tired, though, and tourists of old will be shaking their heads at the news that some were back at the hotel before midnight. Indeed, there was little more liver abuse possible anyway as the Hilton astonishingly shut their bar at around 12:30.

On day fifteen we fly back via Tobago. News, rumours and just plain lies from that to come nearer the end of the week.